These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning:
Analyst Upgrades:
- Rockwell Automation (ROK) upgraded to Overweight at HSBC Securities ; price target raised to $53 from $48
- Jefferies raise their price target on software giant Microsoft (MSFT) to $36 from $32
- Aruba Networks (ARUN) upgraded to Overweight at Barclays Capital
- Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets
- Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) added to Americas Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs
- Telecom italia (TI) upgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein
- GSI Commerce (GSIC) upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer ; price target set at $25
- First Solar (FSLR) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets ; price target set at $136
- Dyncorp International (DCP) upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo
- Smith International (SII) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
- Credit Suisse raises its price target on Covidien (COV) to $52 from $46
- Standpoint Research raises its price target on Noble Corporation (NE) to $66 from $55
- Analog Devices (ADI) added to Americas Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs
- Omega Health (OHI) upgraded to Market Outperform at JMP Securities ; price target set at $22
- Leerink Swann raises its valuation range on Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to $19$-$21 from $17-$19
- Pulte Homes (PHM) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup ; price target raised to $12 from $11
Analyst Downgrades:
- Banco Macro S.A. (BMA) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan
- Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich ; price target lowered to $38 from $52
- Target (TGT) downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Seagate Tech (STX) downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America/Merrill ; price target lowered to $15 from $19
- Vimpel Communication (VIP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Coventry Health Care (CVH) added to Americas Conviction Sell list at Goldman Sachs
- Baidu.com (BIDU) is removed from Americas Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs ; firm however, maintains its Buy rating on the co. and raises its price target to $500 from $435
- Poniard Pharmaceuticals (PARD) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Adams
- Research In Motion (RIMM) downgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets ; price target lowered to $64 from $100
- Exelixis (EXEL) downgraded to Neutral at Merriman
- Western Digital (WDC) downgraded to Underperform at Bank of America/Merrill ; price target lowered to $35 from $44
- Sunpower (SPWRA) downgraded to Neutral at Janney Montgomery Scott
Coverage Initiated:
- Baxter (BAX) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- TeleCommunication Systems (TSYS) initiated with an Outperform and an $11 price target at Oppenheimer
- Asbury Automotive (ABG) initiated with a Market Weight at Thomas Weisel
- Arch Coal (ACI) initiated with an Overweight and a $30 price target at HSBC Securities
- Commvault Systems (CVLT) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $26 at Needham
- China Information Security Technology (CPBY) assumed with a Buy and a price target of $10 at Brean Murray
- Sybase (SY) initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan
- Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) initiated with a Buy at Stifel Nicolaus ; price target set at $68
- Cytokinetics (CYTK) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Adams
- Peabody Energy (BTU) initiated with an Overweight and a $57 price target at HSBC Securities
- Verisk (VRSK) initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan
- Sinovac Biotech (SVA) assumed with a Buy and price target of $11 at Brean Murray
- Medtronic (MDT) initiated with a Hold at Morgan Joseph
- Luminex (LMNX) initiated with a Market Perform at William Blair
- MedAssets (MDAS) initiated with an Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Massey Energy (MEE) initiated with a Neutral and a $40 price target at HSBC Securities
- Edwards Lifesci (EW) initiated with a Hold at Morgan Joseph
- Cerner (CERN) initiated with a Neutral and an $89 price target at Robert W. Baird
- CONSOL Energy (CNX) initiated with a Neutral and a $50 price target at HSBC Securities
- pSivida (PSDV) initiated with a Buy and a $9 price target at Ladenburg Thalmann
- Becton Dickinson (BDX) initiated with an Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- Xoma (XOMA) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Adams
On the news front this morning:
- The Wall Street Journal reports Hershey (HSY) is in talks with banks to line up billions of dollars to launch a rival bid to Kraft Foods’ (KFT) $16 billion offer for British candy maker Cadbury Plc (CBY), said people familiar with the matter. Hershey, emboldened by improving financial markets, looks much more willing than it did just weeks ago to make a run at Cadbury, these people said.
- NY Times reports Delta Air Lines (DAL) and its alliance partners said Wednesday they are making a billion-dollar offer intended to lure loss-making Japan Airlines from its current affiliation with American Airlines (AMR). Delta is “by far the strongest partner for Japan Airlines,” company president Edward Bastian told reporters in Tokyo. The offer from Delta and the SkyTeam alliance includes a $500 million capital investment, $300 million in revenue guarantees, and $200 million in asset-backed financing for JAL.
- Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) announced Wednesday the authorization of its Board of Directors to purchase $400 million of the company’s common stock. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date, and any purchases may be made in the open market, the co. said.
- AP reports South Korea’s telecommunications regulator cleared the way for the launch of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, amid reports the hit device could reach consumers by the end of this month.
- FT reports a Chinese court has ruled that Microsoft (MSFT) infringed a Chinese software maker’s intellectual property rights in a surprise decision that has renewed worries among foreign patent experts about China’s management of IPR disputes. Microsoft’s use of two Chinese fonts developed by Zhongyi Electronic, a Beijing-based software company, was not covered by a licence agreement between the two, the Beijing No 1 Intermediary People’s Court said in a verdict, and therefore infringed Zhongyi’s intellectual property rights. Once the ruling takes effect, Microsoft must stop selling all PC operating systems that use the fonts including the Chinese language editions of the second edition of Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
- American Express Co (AXP) agreed to acquire Internet-based payment platform Revolution Money for $300 million, the credit card company said on Wednesday.
